Beautiful Boy
by Birdwatched
Summary: Max left the flock because she was pregnant with Fang's son. Now, she's nineteen, living with their five year old boy, Silence...and Fang never stopped searching for her. Fax in later chapters, you just need to be patient :D
1. Chapter 1

**Set in the future, Max is nineteen, everyone is five years older. Read and review, I'm not gonna update right away because I actually have a life and have homework and things to go to. At the very most, I might update once a week on Saturdays or Sundays. So just know that. Sometimes it might be two weeks.**

**Some of you may have read my story, "Still", but I've stopped writing that. I got bored. Anyway, this could be something new. Enjoy!**

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It's funny how much you realize how much you loved someone when you begin to accept you'll never see them again. Love is the only thing that the whole world seems to understand, and you realize how much it really holds things together when it's all that you have now.

For instance, when I left the flock because I was pregnant with Fang's son, it just snapped things right into perspective on how much love had really mattered. I mean, it's been five years since all of that happened, but the love that I had for everyone is still there.

But I have a responsibly now. His name is Silence, and he's my world. He looks just like me, just with olive skin, obsidian eyes, black hair…and black wings. He's four years old, almost five. His smile lights my world up, and his laughter is like music. His cry tears me apart.

"Mommy?"

I looked up from my coffee at the kitchen table at Sy. He was in his blue Thomas the Train footsies and his short black hair was sticking up in all directions. "Hey, babe, what's up?"

His black eyes watched me steadily, reminding me of Fang. "Do you have work?" he asked quietly, crawling onto my lap.

My arms encircled him and I kissed his cheek, cuddling him to my chest. "No, sweetie, not today," I told him.

Actually, I got laid-off, but I didn't want to freak him out. I could barely pay the rent anyway, and the landowner was getting pretty pissed at me. "Can we play at the park today?" Sy asked.

I yawned, putting my chin on his head. "No, babe, I have stuff I need to do. Maybe we could invite one of your friends over, huh?"

He frowned. "Friends?"

Oh, maybe not.

"Here, how 'bout you go turn on the television for me so we can see what's going on in the world today," I suggested. "Then you could jump on the little tramp and count to thirty."

"I did that yesterday," he said.

I picked him up, balancing him on my hip. "I'll bet you can't count to fifty," I dared him.

"I can," he said.

"I bet you can't," I repeated, smiling at him.

He squirmed and I set him down, and he took off, black feathered wings out making airplane noises over to the little exercise tramp I bought him at WalMart. "One! Two! Three! Four!" he started counting with each bounce.

"I'll bet you can't flap and stay airborne for a full ten seconds," I said.

"Airborne?" he shouted.

"Stay in the air."

"I can't do that," he said. "I can jump on the tramp."

I smiled at him and watched the television screen, where I immediately saw something that caught my attention. "…the mysterious 'bird kids' that were seen a few years ago across America have been seen openly in public for the first time. Here's a picture that one of our viewers caught of one of them."

My breath caught in my throat. A picture of a boy with hawk-like, angular features, dark eyes, dark hair, and black wings appeared on the screen.

"Woah, Mom? Who is that?" Silence hopped off the tramp and walked over to me. "Mom? He has wings, too, like us."

"Shh," I quieted him.

"…have been seen around the Denver area, asking anyone who will listen about someone named 'Maximum'. If you have any information, please call the number on your screen."

"Mom?" Silence asked again, clearly frightened now.

I quickly crossed the kitchen and picked up the phone, punching in the numbers, and held it to my ear.

"Mom? What's going on?" Silence begged.

I put a hand on his head. "Shh…" I told him.

"Hello, this is 7 News, how may I help you?" a woman's bored voice crackled on the other end.

I took a deep breath and looked at Fang and my son, tears coming to my eyes. "I know where Maximum is," I choked.

**FPOV**

My phone buzzed. I checked the number, and it was from the 7 News station that was helping us locate Max.

I don't understand why she left in such a hurry those five years ago. We've been doing everything we could to find her, but things got harder and harder to do on our own as time went on. Iggy's lost all hope, and so has Nudge. I decided to finally resort to outside sources.

I flipped the phone open. "Hello?"

"Mr. Ride, we've got someone with information about Maximum," the lady from the news station said.

"Put 'em on," I said absent mindedly, sitting down at a coffee shop and looking at the menu.

A waitress came to check up on me and I ordered a bagel and crème cheese.

The line transferred. "You have info?" I asked.

"Um, yeah," a girl's voice said.

I pulled out my notepad and a pen and flipped past the numerous hoax phonecalls. "Your name?"

There was some muffling on the other line. A child's voice begged, "Mo-om. What's—"

But he was cut off by the mother scolding him. "Nicholas Silence Ride," she growled.

I stopped what I was doing.

"Wait, did you say Nicholas Ride?" I asked.

She wasn't paying attention. "Sy, can't you just be quiet for one second while I'm talking to someone important?"

"Max?" I asked a little louder.

"What?" she answered. "Sorry, he's just a little high-strung this morning."

"Max?" I repeated, a little awed.

"Hi, Fang," she said. "Yeah, it's me."

I sat back in my chair. "Oh my God, it's really you."

"The one and only."

"Oh, wow. How are you? How are things?" I asked in a rush. I was trying not to anger her, in case that was the reason she'd left in the first place.

"Chaotic," she said, and then to the kid, "Here, I have Cheerios for you, see? Honey Nut."

"I hate cereal. I want bacon," the kid said.

Then it hit me.

"So…is that your son?" I asked.

I heard her smile. "Yeah, that's him. He's almost five years old. He's really cute."

Five years…

"What did you say his name was?" I asked, trying to keep my voice even.

She paused for a long minute. "His name is Nicholas, Fang. Nicholas Silence Ride. I named him after his father."

I set the phone down on the table and looked at it. Max had left the flock because she was pregnant five years ago. That was my son. Unexpected tears came to my eyes. "Fang?" an antsy voice asked from the receiver.

I picked the phone off the table and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. "Hey," I asked. "Do you want to get together and have coffee?"

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**Review por favor? More will come at the very fastest if we're lucky next Saturday. Just know that. It might be week, it might be a month. Just be flexable. Review, review, review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry to all of you guys who like really long chapters; you don't realize how incredibly _long_ it takes to write one thousand words. I have school to attend, homework to do, friends to hang with, family to eat with, and just stuff I need to do in general. But, anyway, I hope you all enjoy this next chapter :)**

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I had to take Silence to kindergarten after I talked on the phone with Fang for only a few short minutes. It's crazy that I haven't seen him in so long, and now I'm having coffee with him this afternoon at Crowfoot. Fang said that he wanted me to bring Silence, so I said that I'd have to pick him up right after school and we'd come meet him.

I hinted, but I'm not sure if Fang got this, that Silence was, in fact, his. I'm hoping that he doesn't flip out when I tell him, 'cause that would be really bad.

"Why do I have to sit in a car-seat?" Silence asked me angrily as I strapped him in.

I buckled the last plastic thing and put my hands on his head. "Because if you weren't in one and I got in a car accident, you would go flying out the front window," I said.

His eyes lit up the same way that the Gasman's used to. "Really?"

I groaned. "You would die and Mommy would be really sad about it."

"Oh," he said, looking at his Soggy-Pup seriously. The black bead eyes looked back at him expressionlessly.

I smiled at him, shut the door, and got into the front seat, backing out of the apartment parking lot. I drove down the road a few miles and turned onto the highway.

"I want a dog," Silence said.

I looked in the rear view mirror. "Nope," I said, remembering how Fang had once let Angel get one. Not gonna happen again. Ever.

"He'd be a good dog," Silence persisted. "And he wouldn't doo-doo on the floor."

"Sy…" I started, "here's the thing. Owen doesn't let dogs in his apartments. We would be in really big trouble."

Silence was quiet for a moment. "I hate Owen," he finally said.

"Don't say you hate someone," I said. "It's not very nice. You wouldn't want anyone to tell you that you hated them, would you?"

"No," he said, then reworded. "I don't like Owen."

I smiled at him. "That's better, I don't like him either, if that makes you feel better."

"Can we go to Dairy Queen?" he asked randomly as we passed a mini-mall. "Please, please, please?"

I sighed. "No, Sy, it's time for kindergarten. You love kindergarten. Travis would miss seeing you."

"Oh. Well, we could get him ice cream too!" his eyes brightened and a smile crossed his face.

"No, not today, bud," I said, then remembered what we were doing after his school got out. "We're going to get hot cocoa at Crowfoot's tonight, though. Your d– um, my friend is going to come. He wants to meet you."

"Who?" Silence asked.

I thought. "Um…his name is...Nick. We were friends before you were born," I told him.

"He has my name!" and then he fell silent.

I smiled. "Yes, he does." Or, you have his name…

We turned onto the street where his school was. "Dad Clark Dr.," I said, and then we passed onto the next "MacArthur Ranch Road," we said together, and then Silence shouted, "School!"

"That's right, little man. Remember, no showing people your wings. Then we couldn't be together anymore," I warned.

"I know, I won't," he said sweetly. Little bugger.

I pulled into the parking lot and parked in the lines, then got out and opened his door for Silence. I'd taken the liberty of _not_ cutting slits in his cute little shirt and brand new jacket. I unbuckled him from the seat and he crawled out of the car, keeping his old floppy white and blue stuffed dog under his arm. "Today I have Show-And-Tell," Silence said as I helped him put his Oscar the Grouch backpack on.

He took my hand and we started walking towards the classroom. "Do you?" I asked.

"Yep," he said. "I'm bringing Soggy-Pup."

I smiled at him. "What are you going to tell everybody?"

Silence shrugged. "I'll say that Soggy-Pup is my dog because I don't have one."

"I think that's a good thing to tell about. Are you going to tell them how you got him?" I asked him.

He frowned. "I…maybe."

"Tell me what you'd say to them."

He kicked a rock. "I'll say that Mommy gave me Soggy-Pup when I was a baby because she had to go to school and I would cry all the time because she wasn't with me."

This was true. I was going to be a sophomore in high school right after the summer I had him. That year was crazy. I had to work at a restaurant at crazy hours to keep our tiny room I rented at this old family's house and the day-care fees. Then I had to do homework, and carry a little baby on my hip and take care of him. I was afraid that I couldn't handle al l of it, but somehow I did.

"Mommy?"

I looked down and Silence was looking up at me with those big obsidian eyes. "I'm kind of scared to talk in front of everybody."

I kneeled and gathered him in a hug. "It's gonna be okay. Just be yourself and nobody will think anything of you."

I felt him smile against my shoulder and held him at an arm's length. We were right in front of the teacher's door outside and the wind blew the autumn leaves around us. "Hey, take care of yourself. I love you," I told him, ruffling his black hair and giving him a peck on the cheek, then turning my own to receive a sticky one from him.

"I love you, too, Mommy," he beamed.

The other mothers were starting to arrive, bringing their own kids to the kindergarten area. "Okay, I'll see you after school," I told Silence, spotting Travis and nudging him in his friend's direction.

Silence hugged my leg and gave me a smile, waved, and then ran off to join the other boys on the play-set. I smirked to myself and turned to walk away, catching one woman's eye, cold and judgmental I always hated it when the other woman would give me looks just because I was nineteen and had a four and a half year old. Through bad choices I had had him, but I didn't wish to take back any of my actions. They had given me my beautiful boy.

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**Review, por favor! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry I haven't gotten to post in a while. Like I said, I write in my _spare_ time. There isn't a lot of that around the beginning of freshman year. Highschool is crazy. No joke.****FPOV**

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I wondered what my flock would say when I told them I had finally found Max. She used to be everything to them. She was everything to me, too. I didn't know what had happened. That day she disappeared was so sudden, and nobody could figure out why she would leave.

She left me a note, though. It said that she loved me, and she always would. She loved the flock, and this had nothing to do with us, why she was leaving. She said it was something that was gonna come, but we weren't in any danger.

Lastly, she told us to never come looking for her. That part cut me deeper than she knew.

Max's mom and Jeb bought us a house in a suburb, which we still live in to this day. It's crazy that it's been almost five whole years. Angel's almost eleven, the Gasman's even more of a pyro that he ever was at twelve. Nudge is quite the fashion designer at fifteen, and Iggy and I hold down the fort as the kings at the old age of nineteen. Ella, who is now seventeen and Iggy have been going steady for the last year and a half. I often envy them. I wish that I still had that kind of friend.

I was sitting in the park reading the newspaper, and got bored of that, so I set it down on the seat next to me and whipped out my phone, deciding to give Iggy a call. "Hello?" he asked, his voice sounding funny in the receiver.

"Hey, man, it's Fang. Um, I was wondering if the gang's at home," I said.

I heard some rustling of papers as he reviewed his new calendar that Ella had gotten him for his birthday. He'd learned to read Braille, and somehow the calendar can print stuff in Braille for the blind people of this world that need their lives organized. Don't ask me how it works; it's a Iggy/Gazzy kind of thing.

I shook my head, delirious with happiness. "I have something I need to tell you guys as soon as possible. Do you think you could get the kids out of school?"

Iggy sighed. "This had better not be something really bad," he said.

I stood up and walked to a tree. "Are you kidding me? This is the best thing that's ever happened to me!" I put a hand on the trunk.

There was a pause. "You know, I _really_ wish I could see your face, because you're not acting like Fang. Who is this imposter?"

"No, dude, you've gotta believe me, this is great. Get the kids out of school, I gotta tell you all something," and then my phone buzzed again; probably a call from my boss. "Look, man, I gotta go. Just get the kids home, alright?"

"Alright, alright," he said. "I've got a job, too, you know?"

I smiled. "See you," and hung up, and then pressed _send_ for the new call. "Hello?"

"Nick, hey, it's Jim."

Yeah, like I thought, my boss. "What's up?"

"I need you to make a web-site for another customer. I know that you already did all of your work for this week and this is your Friday off, but I really need this. Can you do it?" he asked.

I thought about it. I think my weekend is pretty full, from what I can hope. "I have a family friend coming out to see me this week, so I don't know if I can," I said, again thinking of Max and my maybe-son.

See, my _plan_ is to convince Max to come live with me and the flock again. I mean, if she's not doing so hot out in the real world, we all want her back. Really bad. I don't even care if she has a freaking kid, he might be _mine_.

"No, sorry, man, I'm sorry, I don't think I can," I said to Jim. "I'm real sorry."

He sighed. "It's okay, I understand having family matters to attend to. I mean, you're supporting, what, four younger siblings?"

I nodded. "Well, technically five, but the fifth wouldn't like it if I said I supported him."

"It's okay, I understand," he repeated. "Anyway, I'll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend, Nick."

"Thanks, man, you too," I told him, and pressed the _end _button.

**MPOV**

"You're late again, Max," my boss stated plainly as I walked into my secretary job at an engineering office. Yes, you got me right, a secretary. I answer phones, I plan appointments, I refill the candy bowl on the counter and I pick up paper from the copy machine. I don't know how much more exciting this job could get.

"I'm sorry," I told my him. "I got stuck in some traffic."

Actually, I got pulled over by a cop. But I didn't want to tell him that. Apparently the stickers on my license plate are outdated. But, like, _who cares??_ It's not like my stupid stickers are hurting anybody!

My boss, Mr. Pelly, gave me a sinister glare. "This is your third time this month," he said.

I put my bag on the counter and my hand on my forehead. "I know, I've just been having some issues keeping up with things this week. And my four-year-old's been kind of sick," I lied.

He made a sympathetic face, and I knew I had him. He loved Silence, and for that reason, and that reason only, I stay employed. All I had to do is bring the kid in every Wednesday afternoon because "he has no nanny on Wednesdays", or that's the story, anyway. Long story short, I can make excuses involving my boy and get off the hook. It's so easy.

"Alright, Max, but get to work," Pelly said. "Take care of that little Nick for me, okay? I hate hearing that about him."

I sat down in my swivel chair and leaned back. "You don't need to worry about him, Jake, he's my son," I reminded him.

Pelly frowned. "True, but you're only nineteen."

I raised my eyebrows. "And?"

He smiled at me. "Get to work," he said just as the phone rang. Pelly disappeared into his office.

I grabbed it and pressed it to my ear. "Burns and McDonald Engineering; this is Max, how may I help you?" I asked automatically.

"Yes, can you transfer me to a Mr. Jacob Pelly?" a woman's voice said.

"Sure thing," I said, and pressed the button to transfer. This job was so easy.

"Hello, Max!" someone called from across the hall.

I looked and waved. "Hey, Ethan."

The bubbly red-head grinned at me. "What up?" he asked, getting up and walking to my desk. He leaned on the counter. "How's the kid?"

I frowned. "He actually got sick yesterday and had to go home early from school," I said.

Eth's brown eyes crinkled. "Oh, no, hopefully not the piggy flu, right?"

I smiled at him. "Nah, he just had a headache. He gets those sometimes," I told him, twirling a pen in between my fingers. "Hey, you wanna do me a favor?"

"Sure thing." You can always count on Ethan.

"I'm fresh out of staples, can you go unlock the supply closet for me and get me a new box?" I like to make him work, if I can help it.

"Yep," he said, rapping the counter twice and going off down the hall, jangling his keys in his hand the entire way.

The phone rang. "Burns and McDonald; this is Max. How may I help you?" I answered again.

A man's voice. "Can you transfer me to a Mr. Finn Allan?"

"Yup," I pressed a button just as the phone rang again. "Burns and Mc Donald; this is Max. How may I help—" _Plop!_

I looked up to see Ethan leaning against the counter with the box in front of him, grinning his dimpled smile. "Thanks," I whispered.

"No problem, I'll see you around," he whispered back.

"Hello?"

"This is Max, how may I help you?" I finished.

"Hello, Max, this is Benjamin Long from Corporate calling to remind your branch that expense reports are due this Friday. Would you mind taking a message to Jacob?"

I took out a sticky note and a pen. "Yeah, no problem," I said. "What's the message?"

"What I just told you," Benjamin said. He was always so impatient.

Oh, right. I wrote out what he'd just said. "Thanks, I'll be sure to take this to him," I assured him.

"Thank you, goodbye," Benjamin said.

_Click._

Okaaay….

The phone rang. "Burns and McDonald; this is Max, how may I help you?"

"Hello, Max Ride?" a female's voice said.

"Yes, that's me," I answered.

I heard someone leafing through pages. "Yes, your son Nicholas needs to be picked up from the office. He got in a fight at recess and got hit in the face."

I put a hand on my face. "Oh! No, alright, I'll come get him right away! Can I talk to him real quick?"

I heard her talking to him, "You want to talk to your mommy?" she asked him.

Silence mumbled something. "Are you sure?" she asked him. "She'd like to talk to you."

He said something else that I didn't understand. "How about you talk to her, okay? I'll get you more ice."

Ice? "Mommy?" Silence's small voice asked.

"Yeah, buddy, it's me, what happened?"

He didn't say anything for a long moment, then decided to answer. "Will was calling me names, so I hit him, and then he hit me."

"Aw, bud, you're not supposed to hit people, you know that," I said. What was he thinking?

He was silent.

I took a deep breath. "Anyway, I'm coming to get you from school, is that okay?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, see you in a minute," I said. "I love you."

"Luvutu," he mumbled.

I hung up and got up from my post, going into Pelly's office and rapping twice on the door. He looked up from his work. "Yes?"

I stood for an uncomfortable moment, then said, "Um, S – Nick got in a fight at school and got beat up pretty bad. Is it okay if I go pick him up?"

"Oh, no!" Pelly said. "Yeah, of course. You wanna bring him here so I can talk to him?"

I frowned, thinking how this would go over with the kid. "Um, how about no. He probably already got chewed out by the teacher and doesn't need more of that," I said. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, take the day off if you need," he said. "You've got one personal day left for this month, and you're a hard worker."

_Yeah, you don't pay me that well, either._ "Thanks, Jake, I appreciate it," I smiled at him. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yep, see you!"

I rolled my eyes and went back to my desk to get my bag. Why would Silence hit a kid? He'd never done that before in his life! I thought this over and over again until I came up with an explanation: his father was Fang. Fang would have popped the kid and probably killed him.

Why couldn't he have taken Fang's quiet personality and my patience and self control? Both of our _good_ traits? Nope, he had to inherit my spite and Fang's ruthlessness and strength and impatience. The _bad_ traits. I mean, yeah, he's, like, the sweetest little kid ever (got that from his dad), but if you tweak him the wrong way, you've got a pretty angry kindergartener on your hands.

Nonetheless, he gets a spanking when he gets home; I don't care how beat up he is, he knows that's not okay.

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	4. Chapter 4

FPOV

I slammed the door of our house loudly. "I'm home!" I called.

A chorus of, "Hey, Fang!" came from the kitchen, where I assumed Iggy was whipping up something extra-yummy to eat.

For all of those wondering; our house is actually pretty legit. Nudge got free range of decorating a majority of the house, and so most everything was modern and black and white. And it's an actual house. Jeb and Dr. M bought it for us shortly after Max disappeared because none of us really wanted to move around anymore. We just couldn't handle the shock.

I dropped my satchel, which was _not_a man-purse – no matter what Iggy decides to call it – on the wood next to the door where everyone'd stuck their shoes in an un-orderly fashion. Angel and the Gasman had put their backpacks by the keyboard.

The hall was relatively clean – the Gasman had one of his sweatshirts strewn onto the rug, so I picked it up and went to join everybody in the kitchen. It smelled great; Iggy was making chili and the kids were at the table playing Spoons. "Hey, Fang!" Angel piped.

I walked up to her chair and ruffled her curly blonde hair. "What up, princess?" I asked, bending down and kissing her cheek.

She smiled at me, but continued playing. Suddenly, Nudge sprang from her chair and grabbed a shiny silver spoon off the table, followed by Angel and the Gasman fighting for the remaining utensil. "Hah hah hah," Nudge sang. "Gaaazzy looses! Gah-gah-zee looses!"

I held my hand out to her. "High five," I said as she smacked it hard. "You're getting waaay too strong, girl," I told her, shaking my hand.

She grinned. "I try to hurt you. OH! My God, Fang, okay, so Iggy called the school in the middle of fifth period – which would normally be okay, because I hate Mr. Finnegan because he's old and doesn't know how to get an appointment with a hair dresser – so, like, I get called down and I'm sooo embarrassed because I had to get up in front of the whole class and _take the piece of paper_ from the office _from Mr. Finnegan's old wrinkly hand_and sprint out of my seat to look for Ella so she could come home with us, which didn't quite work so well because she was taking a test in World Geo – but I got her out – and I get to the office, and Iggy's waiting for me there with Gazzy and Angel and I'm like, 'Dude, what the heck?' And he's like, 'Well, Fang has some important news that he just _can't_ wait to tell us so he wanted me to come get you,' so I'm like—"

I clamped my hand over her mouth. "Slooow down, Nudgermouth," I said.

She peeled my hand away and scowled at me. "So anyway, I was wondering what the news was?" she said, getting to the point.

The all watched me. "Yeah, what's the news?" the Gasman asked, all blue-eyes-and-innocence.

Iggy wiped his hands on his apron. Yes, Iggy's wearing an apron, any more questions?

I looked at everyone, putting my hands in my pockets and taking a deep breath. "Well," I started slowly.

"Oh, _my_ God, are we finally getting a dog?" Nudge gushed. "'Cause I want a poodle, a white one, so we can dye it pink."

Angel looked at Nudge calmly. "Fang really does have something important to tell us. Just listen. And it's not a dog, and he still thinks it's a bad idea to get one."

I smiled and put my hand on her head. "Thanks, Ange. No, the news was that…I found Max," I said slowly.

The kids all exploded into questions. "_No freaking way! _Why isn't she—"

"Oh, my _God_, Fang! And this had to _wait??_ Why didn't you tell us? How is she—"

"Where is she? Why—"

"Why did she—"

"Guys! Guys! _Guys!_" I shouted to get them to stop, gripping the bridge of my nose. They looked at me expectantly, all four of them had tears in their eyes.

"You really found her, Fang?" Nudge asked. "It's really her?"

I nodded slowly. Iggy put his hand on my shoulder. "Dude, where is she?"

I laughed once. "She lives about two hours North," I said. "All this time, and she was so close," I shook my head.

Nobody said anything for a moment. The Gasman looked around, and saw that nobody _looked_ like they were going to speak, and said, "When do we get to see her?"

I huffed. "Well, you see, I was going to have coffee with her today, just to see what's up with her, why she left, how our kid's doing, how she's getting along…" I listed.

"Waaait, wait, wait," Iggy cut in, " 'How our _kid_'s doing?' You guys have a _kid_?"

Oh, yeah, about that.

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**(MPOV)**

I pulled up to the Crowfoot Valley Coffee shop and put the car in park, looking behind to make sure that nobody was following me. Why am I so paranoid?

"Mom?" Silence asked as he pressed the ice against his swollen eye. "My ice is getting drippy. It's all over my shirt."

I swept the parking lot for Fang, but didn't see him. I wondered if I'd even recognize him anymore. I got out of my seat and opened his door to get him out of his car-seat. "See? It's all drippy," he held out the bag, which had percolated through the plastic bag and onto the outside.

Silence was pretty beat up. His eye was black and his lip was split and bled when he accidentally cracked it back open as he grinned.

I took the bag from his hand and unbuckled him. He got out of the car and took my hand. "Where's your friend?" Silence asked.

I looked around and lead him through the glass door. "He'll get here," I told him. "Soon. Hey, what do you want to drink, bud?"

"I want…a hot…chocolate!" he decided quickly. "And I want whipped cream on it, too, please."

I smiled and we got up to the register to order. Silence quickly told the black man behind the counter what he wanted, and I ordered a chai tea. "What did you do to your face, son?" the man asked as he handed us our drinks. He had a kind look to his face, and his short wooly hair was bright white.

Silence put his hands in his pockets and pivoted around. "I…got hit in the face at recess," he said.

"Oh, no!" the man said, "How'd that happen?"

"Will called me a name, so I hit him," Silence said. "But then he hit me, and Mrs. Burchick didn't like that at all, and she brought us to the principal's office after we'd fought a long time."

"Wow, you must be pretty tough, huh?"

Silence shrugged. "Well, I guess…I gave him a bloody nose!" he added happily.

The man and I exchanged glances, and I raised an eyebrow. "Well, that's not good," the man said, "You should be careful with other people."

"Yeah…" Silence agreed.

I heard the door behind me open and took Silence's hand to lead him to one of the armchairs. "Stay here, I need to go to the bathroom. Make sure that you never lose sight of the door, alright?"

"Okay," he said. "I won't go anywhere."

I started walking away, then turned and added, "And don't talk to strangers!"

He shook his head, swinging his legs back and forth while hitting the chair. "I won't," he said.

* * *

**(FPOV)**

I pulled into the coffee shop's parking lot at exactly the time Max had wanted me to get there. The sky was clear, the autumn winds were blowing lightly. There were only two other cars in the parking lot, and I deemed the beat up red pickup as most likely to be something Max would drive. But what did I know? Maybe she was, like, uber successful in her new life.

I quickly walked towards the door of the joint and went inside. There was a lady and her husband talking quietly at a table with their two sons, who were about the same age, playing together with toy trucks.

Max wasn't anywhere.

Something tugged on my pant leg and said, "Excuse me, mister, could you ask the man for more ice?"

I looked down at a four or five year old boy with black hair and dark eyes. That couldn't be my son, could it?

I kneeled in front of him. "Why do you need ice?" I asked him.

He smirked, looking exactly like Max. "I got in a fight at school," he said, "and my mom says I need to ice my eye because it's getting bigger."

I frowned. "Getting bigger? Is that it?"

He nodded.

"Where's your mom?" I asked him.

He started whispering. "She said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers."

I smiled at him and stuck my hand out to shake. "I'm Nick, what's your name?"

He grinned at me, taking my hand with childlike delicacy. "Nick. That's my name, too."

"See, we're not strangers anymore," I said. "Here, I'll get you some ice, come with me."

He followed me carefully, as if he was afraid of something. I looked at the man behind the counter. "Hey, I wouldn't be able to get some ice in a plastic bag, would I?"

The man smiled at me. "You sure would, I'll be right back."

I looked down at Nick. "See, no harm done," I told him.

He nodded.

Just then, someone's hand shot out and took his shoulder. "I told you not to talk to strangers," a girl scolded. "Next time, I could lose you."

"Nick's not a stranger," the little boy defended, "He's getting me some ice. His name is Nick, too."

The girl looked up, and I saw that she was, indeed, Max.

I raised my eyebrows and tried to sound casual. "Hey," I said, hardly managing to keep my voice even. God, she was as beautiful as she'd ever been.

Max stood up quickly and straightened herself out. "Fang," she choked.

I held out my arms and she ran into them, wrapping her own around my waist tightly. "I can't believe it's really you," she said in a really tiny voice.

I held her tighter. "I've missed you," I said into her hair. "You have no idea."

And then she started to sob.

* * *

"So you only left because you didn't know if I'd want our son or not?" I asked incredulously as I sipped my coffee, setting it down on the darkly stained wooden table.

Max looked at her chai, no wanting to meet my eyes. "Um," she said, "Yeah."

"Max," I said, reaching across the space between us to put my hand under her chin. "Look at me."

Her beautiful chocolate brown eyes flicked up and met mine and her head retracted a bit so I wasn't touching her anymore. I dropped my hand into my lap, kind of embarrassed. "I realize…" I started slowly, "…that this was scary for you, and I can understand. I just…"

She watched me steadily, not angrily, not happy, either.

I looked down at my coffee lid. "…I wish I could have been there," I said finally. "I wish you hadn't run off."

She didn't say anything, which was unusual for her, or from what I remembered of her. She was so beautiful, so…I don't know what the word is…just so _Max_.

Her eyes were filling with tears now, and she turned her head away to look at Silence, who was sitting on an armchair quietly sipping his hot cocoa and reading a picture book. He looked up at her and smiled quickly, and then dropped his attention back to his book.

Max crossed her arms and put a hand over her face. "I'm sorry," she said. "I was just…scared…and confused. I mean, you have _no_ idea what it's like to realize that you're really carrying someone's child, to realize that you can't be a kid anymore, to think about how everyone's going to react when you get the news out," she looked at me, "and to think that maybe its father wouldn't be happy."

I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry I got you into this," I said. "It's my fault."

Max put a hand on mine. "Don't be. If you hadn't, there's one incredible boy that wouldn't be here."

My eyes met hers, and I brought my hands up to hold hers, so immersed with emotion that I couldn't speak. My eyes welled as I finally choked out lamely, "Yeah."

And just to make the moment oh-so-more touching, Silence ran up to the table and trust his open book between us, making our hands drop, and pointed to a picture of a huge, beautifully painted white dog. "_That's_ the one!" he exclaimed.

* * *

**Okay, so on a scale from one to ten, how much do you wuv Silence?? He's the kind of kid I want to have. [break for coughing fit]. Oh, and I really do have swine flu. Denver's really being hit hard with it. Like, three kids out of ever class are gone, it's crazy! **

**Poll: **

**Option A - Max goes to live with the flock because she loses her job. Mucho Fax.**

**Option B - She doesn't lose her job, and they live in the same decrepit apartment they always have.**

**R&R.**

* * *

good now, thankfully, I just hope I'll be back at school on Monday! I already missed two block days! Danger, DANGER!!S'all been lying in bed for the past few days with a extremely high fever. veLONG chapter! Here we go, folks! Sorry I haven't posted in, like, a week. I caught H1N1 and ha


	5. Chapter 5

**I. Am on a writing spree! Whee! This doesn't always happen. I'm gonna have a lot of homework after this, and probably the rest of the week. Expect 'Beautiful Boy' chapters to be a little delayed until I make up all the work, haha. But, for now, enjoy the chapter.**

MPOV

I rolled my eyes at Silence. "No, we can not get a dog, bud, we've been over this!"

He pouted his bottom lip. "But…but…it's a maremma sheepdog, and they're really pretty. And nobody has them."

I looked at Fang, who was watching us in fascination. Talk about awkward. I got down on a knee in front of him. "Buddy, we can't get a dog because the landlord doesn't allow them, okay? Otherwise I would _love_ to get a marem-what and it could sleep in your room and you could take it on walks."

"Max," Fang said patiently.

I looked at him and hoisted Silence onto my lap so we both faced him at the table. "Yes, Nick?" I asked, stroking Sy's jet black hair and kissing his temple.

Fang watched us again, with that same look in his eyes. A look of longing, perhaps. He blinked rapidly a few times. "Um, were you ever gonna tell him?" he asked. He leaned over to the table that Silence had been sitting at and picked up his cup of hot chocolate, putting it on the table in front of him.

I knew what he meant. And I wasn't sure. "Silence?" I asked my boy as he reached for the cup. "What happened to your daddy, babe?"

He took a big swig of cocoa and almost spilled it all over his shirt, but Fang reached across the table and caught it. Silence frowned and wiped his mouth. "Daddy's off kicking bad-guy butt so he can keep us safe, and doesn't have time to come home yet. He's going to, though because he loves us and he wants to see us again," he looked up at me. "Right?"

I smiled at him and looked at Fang triumphantly; he had a smug smirk on his face. "That's right, bud."

Fang opened his mouth. "Silence," he asked, "what's your daddy's name? Did your mom ever tell you?"

Silence nodded, fingering the hole at the top of the coffee lid. "Yeah, it was kind of weird, though," he said truthfully. That's my boy!

Fang smiled. "Do you want to tell me it?" he asked, leaning forward. "I promise I won't laugh."

Silence gave the shop a quick three-sixty and looked back at his dad, frowning determinedly. "Mommy said his name was Fang," he whispered. "And she told me not to tell anyone unless she said it was okay, because someone might come after us."

I beamed. He was so good at doing what I told him. Maybe that's why I keep him around, eh?

I wrapped my arms around his tiny waist. "Hey, babe," I asked. "Do you remember what I said your daddy looked like?"

"Kind of," he said. "Not really."

"Well," I started, "He has black hair, and he's big and _strong_ like you, he has _really_ dark eyes, and he wears a lot of black…"

Silence studied Fang. "Are…" he started, evidently confused. "No, you're…you came home?"

"Yeah," Fang said. "I'm back, I wanna take you guys home with me, to live with me and–"

"The rest of the flock!" Silence exclaimed. "Mom, are we going to live with Daddy and them?"

I looked at Fang. He was watching me with an almost pleading expression on his face. No, I couldn't. I couldn't possibly, I have responsibilities. "Please?" Fang asked. "They want you to come home, Max. Really."

My eyebrows drew together. I was torn. I could just imagine how big everyone'd gotten. The man that Iggy had become, the big brother the Gasman would have grown into. "Fang, I can't," I choked. "I have a job, I have a life, I can't just _leave_ them, you know?"

He didn't say anything. I had cut him, I knew. Deeply. I know that they would have wanted me back, badly. I was their everything, the reason they stayed alive. "I was afraid you'd say that," Fang said. "But…please, think about it."

I nodded. "I will." Defiantly.

Fang's eyebrows raised a bit. "Oh, and I need to tell you that we're all going out to dinner tonight. The kids want to see you. Will you come? I'm buying."

Silence looked up at me. "Can we? Please?"

I fingered the tablecloth and drained my chai. "Yeah, that sounds fun," I said, looking at Fang. "I miss them, too."

He gave me one of those unexpected grins. "Awesome."

FPOV

"Dude, where are they? They should have been here four minutes ago!" Nudge groaned.

We were all sitting tight at a table for seven at an Italian restaurant, waiting for Max. I had told her to come at six thirty, and it was six thirty-four. I was going through in my head exactly how to ask her to come and live with us. I missed her, I wanted her to come home.

I sipped my water calmly and checked my watch. "It's not unusual to be five minutes late for dinner, Nudge. Be patient."

She huffed and went back to talking with Angel, who was on her left. "I just don't want to wait any longer to see her!" she pouted. "And she and Fang have a baby, and I want to see him…really bad! Do you think he'll look more like Max, or like Fang?"

I smiled, bringing up an image of my son in my mind. God, he was beautiful. He had Max's face, her laugh, her smile; but he had olive colored skin, my black hair, my eyes, and evidently my temper.

Angel caught my eye and smiled. "I guess we'll find out," she said, to my relief. "Don't worry, it'll be a surprise."

"Fang?" the Gasman yanked on my left sleeve. "Hey, do you think we could ask to get more breadsticks?" he asked, showing me the empty basket.

"And tomato sauce," Iggy added with his mouth full, dabbing at his lower lip with a napkin. "S' good stuff."

"Guys, I told you not to order the place out of food. That's our third basket in ten minutes," I said. "We can go out for ice cream later and get whatever we want. There you can clean the place out, just act normal for now. It's a nice restaurant, shape up."

The Gasman crossed his arms over his chest. "Whatever you say, _Dad._"

Then we heard a muted _clunk_ and all looked at Nudge, who was already speedily wiping up her glass of water she spilt on the table. She caught my eye and said, "What? I'm cleaning it up, okay?"

I raised my eyebrows at her, but didn't say anything. My eyes swept the dining room again for any sign of Max, but all I found was waitresses and bussers scampering all over the place. But what…what was that _smell_?

I looked back at our table. Iggy was staring blankly forward, Nudge was talking to Angel about the weirdest things – girl things – , and the Gasman was looking…mischievous. His eyes darted around, as if to see if anyone had noticed. "Oh, God, Gazzy," Nudge groaned. "Gross! Fang, Gazzy let one rip! In a nice restaurant!"

I gave him a convicting glare. "Sorry," he said. "I can't help it _all_ the time."

My eyes narrowed. "You could at least _try_, you know."

And then Iggy started, "Oh, yeah, cause _Fang_ never, _ever_ lets one go. _Ever_! It's really incredible, actually, how he can _truly _and _essentially _control the diamater –"

"_Iggy! Not in public!_" Nudge almost shouted. "Gross, you guys!"

"Isn't it amazing how every time we really _do_ go out in public we manage to make a scene?" Angel asked, grinning.

"Call it talent," the Gasman said, examining his fingernails.

Iggy leaned back in his chair, putting his arms behind his head and crossing his legs. "We've got some maaad skills," he said a split-second before his chair slipped out of balance on its two legs and Iggy _and_ fell to the floor. "_Why_ does that always happen to me?" he groaned from the floor.

Then we all started laughing so hard we had tears in our eyes.

MPOV

"I don't like wearing this jacket," Silence said from the backseat of our tiny car as I sped down the street. "I can't zip the zipper on this one."

I looked back at him in the rear-view mirror for a second. "You know what? Maybe when I get my next paycheck, we can get you a new one, okay?"

We were sooo late for dinner. I can't imagine what's going on in their minds. They're probably envisioning me running away – again – with my baby strapped on my back like a papoose. I know that they probably all think that I've abandoned them again.

But it was only around the corner, I could see it now. The Macaroni Grill.

"Ug!" Silence groaned. "I have dog poop on my shoe. Mom, look, I have dog poop on my shoe," he said urgently, kicking my seat.

I narrowly missed hitting a car. "Sorry!" I hissed under my breath as it honked. "Babe, not right now, I'm driving."

"No, Mom, look, I have dog poop on my shoooe," he pouted. "Can you get it off?"

I groaned. "No, Sy, I'm driving," I growled. "We can get it off when we get to the –"

"_Mom! Look out!_" Silence cried suddenly.

I looked to my right, suddenly realizing the danger. A huge pickup was quickly steering an uncontrolled path towards our sorry excuse for a car. I let out a yelp and tried to move out of the way, but it followed our uneven path and rammed into the left side of our vehicle. I frantically grabbed at the steering wheel and tried to keep it on course as we slid sideways into the traffic coming from the other direction. My foot ground at the brake desperately, and then the laws of motion took over, rolling the car, the world spinning, my seatbelt ripping out of the seat. I was thrown into the front passenger seat. Pain exploded in my head as it hit the window hard, followed by my shoulder, making me hiss.

Finally, the world stopped spinning and I opened my eyes a crack. "Report!" I choked weakly, but didn't get an answer.

I could vaguely hear sirens in the distance, and they were getting closer. Crap. I totally could have avoided that.

I tried to lift my head, good. Now let's lift an arm? I felt that ominous warm oozing feeling from the back of my head that I knew only too well that could only be blood. It's always blood, never fails.

"Silence?" I asked, stretching out my arm. "Silence?!"

I could see his shoe. Just his shoe. Never a good thing. "Silence!"

"Ma'am, please don't try and move," a voice said from somewhere above me. "We'll get you out." A firefighter. So comforting.

"But," I protested, "my son, he's not responding."

"Let's just get you out first," the man said. "Can you reach my hand?"

I let them pull me from the wreak, which took long enough, and, despite my protests, put me on a stretcher. The car was turned on its side, and I had been laying against the window looking out onto the concrete. "My son, my son's in there," I kept saying.

A paramedic, a kind faced woman, stuck an oxygen mask on my face and just told me, "Shh, we'll get him, don't worry."

She pressed something against my head where it was bleeding, along the back. "No, you don't understand," I told her urgently, "I need to see if he's okay! I'm fine! Just let me find him!"

Then they restrained me, thinking I was going a little loopy from loss of blood, which I most defiantly _wasn't_. "My…my family is in that restaurant across the street," I told her. "My…family…"

The woman called another paramedic over. "This woman's family is in the Italian restaurant across the street," she told him, then asked me, "Is there a name that we should look for?"

My head was swimming. "F…Fang…" I stuttered.

She looked at me for a second. "Fang?"

I nodded. "Yeah…my…brother…and my siblings. Fang's my b-brother...and there's four others…"

She looked at the other guy. "Look for a man named 'Fang'," she said.

Then they pulled Silence from the wreckage, all limp and bloody. Some wounds were new, then there were the ones from the boy at recess. "He'll be okay," the lady assured me as they lifted my stretcher into the ambulance.

"Silence," I whispered.

Darkness crept across my vision, and then there was nothing but blackness. Then I didn't feel anything else.

* * *

**Dun dun duuuunnn...what's going to happen to Max and Silence? Bahaha, you will not find out for awhile. I feel so powerful. It's awesome.**

**Really, you have no idea what good reviews do to authors. They make you feel...envigorated. Like, the more you get, the more special you feel. So, review, gosh dang it! I really enjoyed getting fifteen reviews for that last chapter, but you can do better! I know you can!**

**By the way, Skillet is the best band EVER. Other than Shawn McDonald. Just thought I'd let you all know. It's useful information. **

**-Crow**

* * *


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it took me a while to update, I've had a _ton_ of homework to do. My stupid English Honors teacher loves to give us a couple chapters of some really random and weird book and then have us write a seven page essay on it. Not. Fun. At. All. And to think I joined English Honors because I thought we'd do more _creative writing. _Hah! Nope!**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter, I spent a looong time working on it. And it's 2,630 words long. That's five Microsoft Word pages long! Aaaah! **FPOV

* * *

I'd gotten the gang together and we'd all piled into my car, trying to find the nearest hospital, following the ominous wails of ambulance and fire truck sirens. Now the five of us spilled into the ER, all running up to the front desk all at the same time. "Can I help you?" the secretary asked.

"We're looking for a Max Ride?" I asked, out of breath. "She was hit by a car with our son in the back…"

She nodded to someone, "Someone for the…special cases," she said to another doctor, who motioned for us to follow him down a long hallway. "What is your relation to the victims?" he asked me, filling out a clipboard as he walked.

Angel grabbed my hand and I squeezed it. My thoughts swam. "She's…my girlfriend," I said in a hurry. "How is she? And my son?"

He led us to a room with a window where I could see surgeons and nurses hovered around someone on an operating table. "Your girlfriend, Max, she broke her fibula – that's her shin -, multiple contusions and cuts on the remainder of her body, we had to give her stitches above her right eyebrow, otherwise, it looks like she's going to live," the flock exchanged glances full of relief, "Now, the boy, Nicholas, he hit his head pretty hard, had some internal bleeding in his abdomen, which they're operating on to stop right now. He broke his left, uh, wing, too. He looks like he's going to make it, though."

I put my hands on my face. Oh, God. "You can't give him human blood," Nudge said. "His has nuclei, the stuff humans don't have. He'll reject it! You're going to kill him!"

The guy looked at her incredulously. "Uh…what?"

Iggy put a hand on her shoulder. "Nick's two percent avian, you can't give him regular human blood because it doesn't have nuclei," he told him, rolling up his sleeve. "Here, stick me with a needle and hook me up to one of those blood bag things, Fang's kid can take all the blood he needs."

Wow. "Uh, me too," Nudge said. "I'll give some blood."

The Gasman wordlessly rolled up his sleeve also.

"Here, hold on a second," the nurse said, running into the operating room. Someone was soon with us, sticking us with the one thing that bugged us the most – needles. They took more blood from me, because I was his father. Iggy gave a lot, too. The Gasman was too young, as well as Angel, who was off the hook. They managed to even get some blood out of Nudge, amazingly.

"Where's Max?" I asked as they put a pad of gauze where the tube had been. "Where is she?"

The nurse wrote something down and pointed directly across the hall to a room with a door that said, "SC", special cases. "She's been asleep since she passed out in the ambulance, but she's in a stable condition," he said. "You can go ahead and see her if you want."

I looked at my flock. "You guys stay out here for a second," I told everyone. They looked at me with those eyes that plead for a leader, something I'd grown to deal with. "Please."

"It's going to be alright," Angel said.

Iggy put a hand on my shoulder, "Just relax, man."

Nudge gave me a side hug. I gave her a small smile and pushed the curtain aside.

I could imagine this is how Max felt when I was torn apart by Ari on the beach and taken to the hospital for treatment. She had all kinds of tubes coming out of her, a breathing mask, one of those things on her finger that keeps note of the heartbeat. Her head was wrapped in gauze, her leg was in a brace. It was the worse I'd ever seen her. I pulled up a chair and sat right next to her, taking one of her hands in both of mine. "Max?" I whispered, watching her face for any reaction. "Max, it's Fang."

I reached out and pushed a strand of stray hair out of her face, then stroked her cheek gently with my thumb. "You're pretty banged up," I murmured. "Lookin' like crap."

I could have swore I saw her eyes move under her eyelids. "Silence is going to be fine. I let the docs stick me, Ig, and Nudge with needles and pump us of blood to give him," I laughed once. "You missed Gazzy getting sick and puking on one of the nurses."

Max's lip twitched and her eyes opened a crack. I smiled at her. "Hey," I said. "Look who's up."

"Hey," she said. "You came."

I stroked her cheek again and she closed her eyes. "What's the damage?" she asked.

I brought my hand back. "You broke your shin, you're bruised all over, they gave you stitches for your forehead. I think you'll live," I said.

She opened her eyes again. "Where is everyone?"

"Outside," I said. "They wanted to see you, but I wanted to be the first."

"Hog," she said.

I nodded. "Yeah, defiantly."

She lifted the hand I wasn't holding to look at the pulseometer on her index finger. "How's Sye?" she asked.

"He'll live," I said. "They put him in surgery to stop some internal bleeding."

"Wow," she said.

There was a knock at the door, and Iggy put his head through. "Hey, lovebirds, can I interrupt?"

Max smiled upon seeing him. "Iggy," she said, "God, you've gotten tall."

He grinned at her voice. "Maximum Ride, never thought I'd see you again."

Nudge shoved him forward. "I wanna see her!" she said, followed by the Gasman and Angel, whose eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Guys, gentle," I warned as they piled in.

"I'll show _you_ gentle," the Gasman muttered. "Max!"

"Gazzer, is that you? Aren't you a handsome boy," Max said weakly, but with a beam in her voice. "Nudgie, Angel…"

They huddled around the bed like a campfire for Eskimos. I knew that they felt like she had hurt them, in a way, but they couldn't help but get excited at seeing her again. She'd practically raised them.

Max closed her eyes and touched the gauze on her face and a doctor poked his head around the door. "Your son's out of surgery, Mr. Ride," he said.

I looked at Max, who raised her eyebrows. "You guys stay here," I told the kids.

I bent over and kissed Max on the forehead, and stroked her face again with my thumb. "He'll be fine," I told her. "You'll see."

She nodded, but didn't say anything.

The doctor gestured for me to follow him into the room next door, where Silence was layed out on a gurney, tubes coming out of his throat and his arms. His wing that he'd broken was stretched out beside him. It was a deep black, the same color as my own wings. He was asleep, his dark eyebrows were furrowed like he was having a bad dream.

"You can pull up a chair, if you would like one, Mr. Ride," the doctor said. "Your son is expected to live, he's already healing rapidly – which is uncommon for children his age with the same injuries."

I sat down and the doctor left us together, shutting the door behind him. I scooted in closer to the bed and stroked his shaggy dark hair. "Hey," I said.

No reaction. His heart monitor was going crazy, like it should be with bird kids, and his oxygen mask wheezed in and out as he breathed. He had a bunch of cuts all over his face and arms. His bare torso was wrapped in gauze and was red with dried blood.

I couldn't get over how much he looked like Max. Everything about him _was_ her, aside from the fact he had dark hair and skin like I did. Well, I guess he _did _have my eye shape. His wings were so tiny, but the one that I could see stretched a good yard out from his back. Don't quote me on this, but…he _was_ really cute. You can't imagine how crazy it is to have someone who has one of your features. Who looks like you.

He still wasn't giving me anything. But I couldn't get up and leave, the moment would end.

When Max left, it was so sudden. It scared me, it scared all of us. I had just gotten home from a computer class, and I couldn't find her anywhere. There was a note on the table:

_I'm leaving you guys. It has nothing to do with any of you, it has to do with me. I love all of you, you're my life. But something came up and I have to take care of it by myself. I knew this day would come, it'd come for all of us, but my time is just first. Take care of yourselves, and don't trust anyone. Don't try and look for me. Please, please don't._

_Fang, I love you. I love you so much. But this is even greater than that love we share, and it's time for me to say goodbye. I'm sorry. _

_-Max_

Those first few weeks were really hard. Actually, that first _year_ was really hard. Even after that, it was hard. I missed her. It was harder on me than it was for anyone, and I couldn't figure out why she'd left. I went through a rough phase where I was on the verge of killing myself, planning my suicide, but Iggy found out, and he wouldn't let me out of his "sight" for weeks, and then I realized that the flock needed me. I was the right hand man, _I _was the one that Max trusted when she walked out that door because she _knew_ that I wouldn't follow and I'd follow orders. She knew I was the only one who could take care of the gang.

So I did. And I never left them. I was there through all of the hard stuff, even when Nudge became a woman (you know what I mean), I was the one she came to. She trusted that I wouldn't laugh at her and I could handle it. And I didn't. I was their dad.

I watched my son again, wishing I had been there all his life, and started to choke up, something I never did.

Someone knocked on the door. "Hey, man, is it okay if I come in?" I heard Iggy's voice.

I sniffed, haven't even realized I was about to cry. "Yeah, go ahead," I told him.

"How're you doing, you know, about all of this," he asked, pulling up a chair beside me. He stretched out a hand and traced Silence's fragile little face.

I watched. "I'm…" I didn't really know what to say. I _had_ nothing to say. "It's kind of overwhelming," I decided. "I'm not sure if Max really wants to have me back, and I'm not sure that she wants to come home to live with us."

"I meant about him," he said. "You and Max's son."

"Oh," I said. "I like him. He's a good kid."

Iggy drew his hand back. "Max did a good job raising him anyway, huh?" he asked.

I smiled a bit. "Yeah, she did. I wish I could have been there."

"You're here for him now, though, right? That's all that really matters now. You can't undo the past," Iggy said. "At least you got to meet him."

I frowned. Hadn't really thought of it that way. "Yeah, I guess…you're right."

There was a pause. I stroked my son's hair and held his hand. "It's gonna be alright, buddy," I told him, choking up. "Everything's gonna be okay, Daddy's here now."

Iggy put a hand on my shoulder, and I felt a little better. "I'm going to be a good dad to him," I said, voice breaking. "I'm going to be there every moment for the rest of his life. I will. I'm not letting Max run off with him again, I don't care what it takes."

Iggy chuckled. "Maybe you could convince Max to marry you or something."

I ignored the jab.

"Mr. Ride, your girlfriend is up and alert, and your…siblings want to see Nicholas," the doctor poked his head through the door, breaking our touchy heart-to-heart moment.

He watched me calmly, waiting. I looked at Silence again and wiped my eyes, standing up. "Alright," I said. "Iggy, stay with the kids and S…Nick."

"Snick?" he chuckled.

The Gasman shoved past the doctor. "I want to see him!" he said. "Where is he? Oh. Woah, he looks just like you, Fang!"

I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway as Angel and Nudge followed the Gasman. "Guys, you need to be quiet, he's asleep," I told them. "I'm going to go check on Max, you guys stay here."

"Dude, he _does_ look like Fang."

"No, he looks more like Max…a _weirdly_ Fang-like Max."

"He has Fang's eyes."

"OMG, he is sooo cute, though…I just want to snuggle him, like a big teddy bear…"

I shook my head and crossed the hall to Max's room, where the door was closed. I knocked once.

"It's open," she said.

I turned the handle and pushed it open a crack. Max was sitting up patiently on her bed. The pulsometer beeped mechanically, her blood pressure was at a normal, for bird kids, anyway. "Hey," I said. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. "I feel fine."

There was a chair in the corner, which I pulled over to her bed and sat down in. "Do you really?" I asked.

Max smoothed the sheets with her hands, folding them over her lap. She looked at the pulsometer and frowned, sighed, and then turned her gaze towards me. "So."

"So," I repeated.

"How's Silence?" she asked, touching her head, bandage.

"He's fine. I see you met the flock again?"

Her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah," she said. "They haven't changed a bit. Except for the fact they're all taller and a little more developed. Iggy's turned into quite the man."

I smiled and she blushed. "Yeah, he has," I said. "He's made a great mom."

She laughed, fingering the lining of the sheets. "Do you…" she started, sounding uncomfortable, which almost never happens, because Max is never uncomfortable, is she? "Do you have room for another?" she asked. "I mean, if it's okay with you…"

I almost leapt out of my chair and kissed her. "Of _course_ it's okay!" I exclaimed. "We've wanted you back since…well, since you left."

She smiled. "Really?"

My eyebrows drew together. "Yes, really," I told her. "We all wished you'd never left us."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, I should have told you. I shouldn't have run off like that."

I exhaled. "No, you shouldn't have."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "You have no idea, I'm so sorry."

* * *

**Word of Wisdom: When writing a fanfiction chapter (or writing anything that needs to be lengthly), type in point 8 font. You end up writing more. I don't know why, but it works. Really well. If you can stand to write two full pages in point 8 font, then you have at least four pages. See? I can be smart sometimes!**

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**~THECR0W**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry, I've been having a few technical difficulties with my stupid computer. I hate them, you know? And then I hadn't been writing 'cause I've been working on my novel more than my Fanfiction, and then all of the sudden, I checked my inbox, and JonasBabe12 had sent me a jingle saying something like, "Dude, what the heck? Why aren't you posting??"**

**So, everyone send her a big thank-you, because if not for her, I wouldn't have started a new chapter until a looong time later. Thank you, JonasBabe12! On with the show!**MPOV

* * *

"I don't understand it," the doctor said, looking at his charts on the clipboard and back at Silence. "Children don't just heal that fast from this kind of trauma."

I sighed from my wheelchair, knowing that both me and Fang had heard this before. My leg was, unfortunately, still broken. Since my super-healing abilities started to kick in the instant that my femur shattered, they had to break it again and set it correctly. So I'm going to be immobile for the next week or so. Fun stuff, right?

Silence looked up at the doctor innocently with exaggerated patience in his dark eyes, looking, I swear, just like Fang. He kept a straight face and waited. "So I guess he's good to go," Fang said from behind me, leaning on the handles of my wheelchair. "I can take it from here."

The doctor was still looking semi-confuzzled, looking at Silence, looking at me and Fang. "I just…" he actually scratched his head. "I don't understand it."

"I feel alright," Silence said oh-so-quietly. "I just want to go home with my mom and dad. And my cousins."

Iggy tapped his foot on the tile floor. "Yeah, after all, Snick is superman."

I smiled. Angel stepped up and stood next to the doctor, all blue eyes and innocence. "I really think that you should let Nick go," she said seriously.

I felt sick. The doctor got this vacant look in his eyes and stared at her dumbly. "I should let Nick go," he repeated.

"He feels fine, so I think it's a good idea," she added, rocking back and forth on her heels. "Please?"

The doctor looked at his clipboard like it didn't matter anymore. "He feels fine,'s a good idea," he said absentmindedly, starting to sign the release form.

Angel turned and gave me a triumphant smile. I groaned.

(FPOV)

"You comfortable?" I asked my son as he burrowed down in the blankets of the pull-out couch in my room.

"Yep," Silence answered shortly. He hugged the blue stuffed dog to his chest and let out a tiny groan. "I'm tired."

I smiled at him. "You should be. You've had a rough day, huh?"

He nodded.

"How's your head feel?" I asked as I reached out and ruffled his dark hair.

"Fine."

"That's good."

I watched him for a full minute without either of us saying anything. Silence picked at the hair on the dog's head. "Can you tell me a story?" he asked. "Mom always tells me one."

I leaned back on the bed. "Oh, let me see," I said, searching though my memory files until I found a good one. "Alright, I've got one. You want to hear it?"

"Yes!"

"Once, there was a family of birds…"

"Hawks!"

"…alright, a family of hawks, and their names were Beauty, Shadow, Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid."

"And Silence."

"I'm getting there," I told him, smiling. "Shadow was in love with Beauty. Beauty had beautiful brown and white feathers. She was smart, and strong, and flew really fast. She took care of their flock, too, and was a really good mother. Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid weren't her babies, but she pretended they were, and took care of them."

I paused, waiting to see if he had anything to say. But he didn't, so I kept going. "The hawk, Shadow, had dark feathers, and almost never talked to anyone in Beauty's flock. But, like I said, he was in love with Beauty, and he waited until Beauty decided that she loved him too.

"When she did, Shadow was happier than he'd ever been in his life. He did everything he could to make sure that Beauty was happy, too. He pulled out some of his black feathers and put them in her nest to keep her comfortable. He stayed up at night and watched to make sure that none of the Eagles would come and attack during the night."

"The Eagles?" Silence asked, a scared look in his eyes.

I put my hand on his shoulder, quickly thinking. "Uh, but the Eagles never did attack – because Shadow was too strong and too formidable –"

"Formibable?"

"Scary," I said, "too try and get to the nests.

One day, Beauty was really happy, and so Shadow flew up to her and asked her why she was so happy. She said, 'I laid an egg, Shadow –'"

"Shadow and Beauty are going to have a chick?" Silence asked ecstatically.

"Yup," I said. "And Shadow was happier than he'd ever been – even more then when Beauty said that she loved him. He went out and found the softest grass he could find for their nest, pulled even more feathers out for her.

"Shade flew up and asked Shadow why he was…singing to himself. He said, 'Beauty and I are having a chick!'

"Shade squawked with joy, and went to go tell Squawk, Reek, and Cupid.

"But when Shadow returned to Beauty's nest, there was no egg. And Beauty wasn't there. The Eagles had taken her away."

Silence gasped. "She'll come back, right?"

I gave him a sad look. "Shadow went and he searched and searched for Beauty, his love, but he couldn't find her. Shade, Squawk, Reek, and Cupid looked for her, too, but she had disappeared."

"Oh, no!"

"Shadow thought that she was gone for good, so he decided to take care of Beauty's flock, just in case she came back. But she never did. Five years went by, and he and his flock never stopped looking.

"Then, one day, a falcon flew up to them while they were hunting and said, 'I found Beauty!'

"Shadow was so happy that he followed the falcon for a thousand miles to where Beauty's nest was. She saw him and screeched with joy. 'You found me!' she cried. 'You found me!'"

Silence giggled.

"'I never stopped searching,' Shadow said. 'I wanted to find you. I love you, Beauty.'

Just then, a black hawk with white wing-tips flew up. 'Mother, who is this?' he growled. 'Shall I fight him off?'

"Beauty got up and ruffled his feathers with her beak and said to him. 'No, Quietness, your father has found us at last.'"

(MPOV)

I was content. I was comfortable, I was not being chased by Erasers, I was eating a plate of chocolate chip cookies, the flock was tucked in bed, and I was sitting on a couch in the living room of Fang's house. It was a nice place, they'd done a lot of good stuff with it; no doubt a courtesy of Nudge. The walls were a light green accented with the occasional white wall and the hardwood floor was stained a great color. Then there were all of these cool decorations thoughtfully placed around. Like, a huge ancient clock, for example, that read 11:25 and was right in front of me.

I thought I might die from the calm of all of it. I leaned back on the couch and started to read my book again. Something by an S.E. Linden called "Learning to Breathe". I'd picked it off the shelf in the corner and began to sift through it an hour ago, and was pretty close to finishing it.

The wind blew violently outside, making the house creak slightly. I jumped as soon as I realized that quiet footsteps were making their way up to the backside of my sofa.

"Hey," Fang said calmly. "Comfy?"

I turned to see him barefooted and bare-chested and in fleece blue pajama bottoms. "Yes, thank you," I said. "Kids all tucked in?"

"Even Silence," he said. "He's a good kid."

"Yeah," I agreed. "He is. He's a lot like you."

"I guess," Fang gave a crooked smile. "But he reminds me more of you. Hard-headed, beautiful smile, warm brown eyes. And that _laugh_."

"Oh, God, don't get me started," I groaned.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, plopping down on the couch next to me. "What'cha reading?"

I held the book up.

"That's a good one."

"Yeah, it is," I agreed.

I looked at the clock. It said 11:35. "Are we up to anything tomorrow?" I asked.

"Not if you're not feeling good," he said, nudging my leg in the cast. "But, if you're doing okay, I thought that we could take the kids to school and bring Silence to the park. He'd like that."

"Yeah, he would," I agreed. "I heard you talking to him upstairs; what were you saying?"

Fang raised his eyebrows. "I was telling him a bedtime story."

Wow. Emotionless Fang was telling his son a story. "What was the story about?" I asked him carefully.

He paused. "It was about a family of hawks," he said finally, "named Beauty, Shadow, Shade, Squawk, Reek, Cupid, and Quietness."

"Oh," I said. He'd named me 'Beauty'? "Care to summarize?"

"Um," He looked at the wall uncomfortably, then right into my eyes. "Shadow was in love with Beauty, and she laid an egg, but the Eagles took her away along with their egg. Shadow searched for her for five years, and then he finally found her. And he was happy."

"That's cute," I said, then asked him curiously, "What happened afterwards?"

He shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "That part of the story isn't finished yet."

Oh.

I searched his face, wondering what he was thinking. I hadn't had any practice at this in five years, after all.

"Do…" his eyes met mine and he took my hand in both of his, not saying anything. He looked away at the fireplace. "Do you still love me?" he asked. "I think…I felt like you left because you didn't love me anymore."

"No!" I exclaimed without thinking, then got a hold of myself, clearing my throat. "I mean…I've always felt something for you…and I've always loved everyone in the flock."

He nodded, smirking a little. "Maybe it's just sexual tension," he said. "I get it."

"No, Fang, that's not what I meant!" I backpedalled. "I mean, I…" then I stopped.

His eyebrows rose, his face was getting noticeably closer. "You what?"

My face flushed, too aware of all this emotion. Too much, I can't handle it. "Max?"

"Fang, I…" I looked at him, forcing myself to not go streaking away and hurting him again. I swallowed. "I love you."

And then I began to cry.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**I apologize for the super freaking long break I've taken on this story. But I've written you more, so you should be happy :D I own nothing, it's all JP. Thank you everyone for your reviews! Special thanks to these people: Bandgeekclarinet14, porcupine451, aleeyXD, da other nudge, , a person (by the way, nice username), Th Ghst f Slss Frnc, WindClanApprentice112, Coolicious 101, Faye Nanner, The Obsidian Ink, puppylove216, NANO BYTE, Moral Intensity, )(* wings *)(, and everyone else that reviewed. I completely love you all. **

**The first sentence goes out to AwkweirdIdeasLeadToThis.**

* * *

MPOV

I seriously think I'd be the worst marriage counselor _ever_. I have such crazy emotions that I completely admitted I'm still in love with Fang _to his face_ last night, and have resorted to hiding from him in order to avoid further talking about it. Which is hard, 'cause, you know, we have _offspring. _

"Mommy, can you come play with me?" Silence appeared by the couch I'd been napping on and started poking me with one finger. "Daddy's asleep."

He was wearing a striped green and blue shirt that made his skin look even darker and some corduroy pants that my friend Ashley had given him for his birthday. However, he'd ripped a hole in the left knee.

I rolled over and played with his hair. "I was asleep, too."

"Come play?" he held up a knight action figure and a plastic T-Rex he must have found in the Gasman's room. "I wanted to play in the sand box, but there's a big gate and it's locked."

"Hm…" I groaned, "Do you want to watch a movie instead?" I tried sitting up and winced at my injuries, wondering why Sy had so quickly healed and was ready to get going. "Mommy's in a cast."

"Oh."

Heavy footsteps started to fall down the stairs and a dark figure appeared at the foot of the staircase. Fang looked at his son and smiled bigger than I've ever seen him smile. Silence smiled too, dropping his toys and running to hug his father's leg. "Daddy!"

Fang rubbed the boy's dark hair and picked him up by the waist, placing him on his hip. "Hey, buddy, how're you feeling?"

"Better…"

I oh-so-gracefully fumbled around for my crutches and unsteadily hoisted myself to my feet. I'd never used crutches before, so I was sort of feeling like I was going to fall over any second and fall _hard. _I scooted myself over to the hallway towards their kitchen. "Fang, is it alright if I make a couple of sandwiches?"

His eyes softened as he looked at me. "Make as many as you'd like."

"Daddy, do you want to take a bath with me?"

"Um, what?"

I laughed, leaning on my crutches as I spooned peanut butter onto a slice of wheat bread and reached for the honey nearby. "Silence," I called, "You're too old for that."

He _harrumph_ed around the corner where I couldn't see him. "Want to play with some toys?"

"Sure, bud, what do you want to play with?"

"_Dinosaaaaurs!_"

There was a loud _clunk_ as his small frame hit the wall with something plastic in his hand. He was always doing that. I moved myself to the entree way of the kitchen. "_Nicholas! _You're going to scratch up the walls!"

He pressed his lips together from his place on the floor and tried not to smile as he looked at his dad. "Sorrry…"

Fang kissed his head, and the kid sprang up and attacked his leg with the plastic T-Rex. I sent Fang a look that said, _Discipline him!_ You can't just let you kid go around shouting "Wrarr!" and hitting you with things. It's not conductive of good character.

His father caught the dinosaur in his hand and held it over his head. "Hey, buddy, if you don't stop hitting me with this toy, I'm going to have to take it away from you."

"Okay." Silence got up and came into the kitchen. "Are you making me a sandwich?"

"Yes, love," I said, handing him a peanut butter, honey, and banana one. "Do you want two, or just one?"

"Two, I'm hungry."

I handed him another and sent him over to eat at the table. Fang's strong, warm arms came around my waist unexpectedly and my breath hitched, making me drop my knife. He put his head on my shoulder. "You make a great mother."

"Thanks," I breathed, trying not to let him know how freaked out I was at that very moment.

He kissed my neck and held me tighter against him. "I never thought I'd have you back, Max."

_Oh-kay_, I think whatever happened last night gave him the wrong impression. Like, the complete wrong impression. Things do _not_ just go back to the way they were five years ago.

I smiled and kind of shrugged him off, handing him one of the sandwiches I made myself, and refusing to meet his eyes. "Daddy, come sit by me!"

"Go."

Fang sighed and let his hand brush my back as he went to join his son at the table. Forgetting our semi-awkward encounter, he asked Silence, "So, if you could do _anything _today, what would it be?"

* * *

FPOV

"_I like ice creeeaaam_!" my son screeched upon opening the doors of the local coffee shop where I'd promised to get him some ice cream. Slightly embarrassed, I mouthed, _I'm sorry_, to the cashier I could see through the clear glass doors and ushered little "Nick Jr." to the line where several other parents were waiting with their kids.

He made explosion noises as he made his plastic dinosaur soar through the air and hit the metal line stands and bounce off to crash into my leg. I took Sy's hand and kissed it.

"Daddy, are you going to stay with us forever?" my son asked, looking up at me with Max's chocolate brown eyes. He was so beautiful.

I crouched down to his level and picked him up in a full bear hug, standing and twirling him around in a tight circle. "I want to," I told him, kissing his cheek and his nose. "Do you want me to stay forever?"

"Yes!" he said immediately, grinning. "And I want some ice cream, too."

I grinned at him, seeing that he had my dimples, and my heart giving a little squeeze. I wanted to stay and be here to protect him, and Max, if she'd let me. I wanted to support them and be a father to the child I never knew I had. He was my son, and I knew from this day forward, he would be my everything – my world. I'd give him anything he asked for. Hell, if he wanted a pony, I'd get him one and keep it in the mud room. But he hadn't asked for a pony, he wanted me to stay.

After paying for our iced treats and sitting down at a table, I tried to make small talk with Silence, even though he had about the attention span of a fork. I asked him about his life back at home and the friends that he had. What Mommy did as a job and what his favorite toy car looked like.

"My best friend's name is Travis," he told me, swinging his little legs and hitting the chair with his heels. "He came over to my house a bit ago and we played with his new Transformer toy. It's red."

"Is that your favorite color?" I asked.

He frowned, sticky cookies-n-cream stuck to the corners of his mouth and licking a drop off his thumb. "No, I like blue. And green. What's yours?"

I smiled to myself, gingerly taking a spoonful of mint chocolate chip and balancing it on the end of my utensil. "Black. What's your favorite sport?"

Silence looked a little put out by this last question. He sucked on his bottom lip and looked down at his Batman Velcro tennis shoes. "Mommy says I can't play sports."

"Why is that?"

"She says I'm too much stronger than the others and I'm too big."

Taken aback, I frowned as well. "What would you like to play?"

He looked at the ceiling. "Soccer. I like to run. It feels like flying."

"I think soccer's an okay sport to play. Would you like me to talk to Mommy about letting you play on a team?" I took a napkin and reached across the table to clean Silence's face up a bit.

He shoved my hand away, but I persisted. "Sure," he agreed.

I sat back in my chair and just looked at him for a long moment while he continued to eat the ice cream I'd just bought him. Had I not any self control, I might have gathered the kid in a tight hug and held him so tight he'd almost break.

Later when we were walking together in the park, his small hand in mine, he asked me a question. He was staring off into a nearby flock of geese by the lake. "Daddy, do you love me?"

The question struck me so hard I actually stopped walking. More than I'd ever loved anything or anyone before, I loved him. This love was so much different from any I'd ever known before, the only kind which was shared between a parent and his child. A father and his son.

I kneeled and put my hands on his small shoulders. "Silence, I love you more than anything else in this world," and pulling him into a tight hug, "More than you can imagine."

"Good," he said, "I love you, too."

It was the most amazing thing I'd ever experienced in my life, so warm and fulfilling. I couldn't help but wonder what made Max take him away from me for all of these years.

We continued walking together in the way that we had until we reached my car, where I buckled him into his car seat and started driving back to the house. On the way back, Silence asked me, "Daddy, do all elephants have tusks?"

I smiled. "Only the girl ones."

"Oh."

About two minutes later, he asked another question: "What color is the sky?"

"Blue?"

"What about elephants?"

"Grey, usually," I said, even though I hadn't the foggiest idea. After all, I'd studied computer graphics in college, not zoology.

"What about dogs?"

It would so appear this kid really liked animals. "I think it depends."

He seemed to think about this answer for a moment, before announcing, "I want a dog."

"Oh yeah?" I looked at him in the rear-view mirror. "I think you were talking to Mommy about that earlier this week. What kind of dog do you want?"

"It's white," he was quick to respond. "And big. And has yellow eyes."

"Yellow?"

"Yeah. How much would a museum cost?"

I pulled into the driveway and shut the car off, and was about to open my mouth to give him an answer when Max suddenly appeared next to my door and motioned for me to roll down the window.

I did so. "Hey," I said casually.

She bent over her crutches so she could see Silence's face clearly in the window, and then turned her brown eyes back to me. They were cold. "Where exactly have you been?" she demanded, all motherly softness from her stare completely gone.

I took a deep breath. "_Well_," I began, "You were taking a nap because the Vicaden was taking it out of you. And Silence was really bored because he didn't have anything else to do, so I took him out for ice cream."

"You didn't leave a note?"

I shrugged. "I didn't think to, I thought you'd sleep all afternoon."

She ran a hand through her hair. "But I didn't."

I shrugged again and took the keys out of the ignition, opening the door and waiting for her to move out of the way. "Well," I started, slamming it behind me, "Everything's fine now, right?"

"Um, no?"

I quickly unbuckled our son from his chair and let him out of the car to run to his mother. "Mommy, Dad took me to get ice cream! And we went on a walk!"

She forced a smile. "That's great, but your nimrod father almost gave me a heart attack," she shot me a look.

"Huh?" he said.

She sighed and kicked the heel of her cast against the cement. "Just...go inside – Iggy's already made dinner and it's sitting on the counter."

"Okay."

After he'd entered the house, I leaned against the car and looked at Max. "So, are you mad at me again?"

"I'm always mad at you," she said, not looking at me. "But, yes, I am kind of ticked you took off with our son without telling me first. Especially since something could have happened and he could have gotten kidnapped by, I dunno, evil scientists in lab coats."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other. "Max, those days are over," I said.

"We don't know that for sure," she growled in a low tone, and very seriously, "I really hope that someday we can confidently say that, but today is not that day. Fang, just write me a damn note next time."

"Whatever you say."

There was a long pause. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt and checked my pockets for loose change. Max looked off into the distance at the setting sun, and the aurora of color danced for a moment in her intense eyes. The last few years had changed her a lot.

"We're going to have to take off in another day," she said at last, not looking away from the horizon for a moment before looking at her feet. "I have a job, and Silence has school he has to go to."

"You don't have to go back," I said truthfully. "We want you to stay here. _I _want you to stay here."

She took a deep breath and looked as if she was blinking back tears, but I wasn't sure. "That's not really an option for us right now, Fang. Silence and I have a life back home, we can't just pack up and leave."

"Maybe you could," I said, sounding more forceful than I had intended, "You could have a life here again! With us. We could be a family. You, Silence, and I –"

"This isn't my decision,_ Fang_! I have a job! I have friends! I just can't –"

"_Maximum_!" I nearly shouted, both pointer finger and index fingers pressing the bridge of my nose in frustration, interrupting her and making her shut the hell up. I couldn't keep my temper because I absolutely couldn't believe this. I pointed to myself, eyes watering dangerously. "Silence is _my son too!_"

I was absolutely livid. "You can't take him away from me again," my own eyes were dripping with hot tears, "You kept him hidden for _five years_ and never told me a thing about it. I want to be _there_ for him. I want to be his father!"

She didn't say anything.

"Do you know what he asked me today?" I said quietly, "He asked me if I loved him. He said he wanted me to stay forever."

Her eyes met mine, and I held her gaze evenly. "Please don't make me say no," I whispered, a new tear leaking out of one of my eyes. "He's my son."

Max bit her lip and looked at the ground. I know for a fact she's only seen my cry a total of three times in my entire life, and this was one of them. When I cry, it scares people. Max looked like she might have been on the verge of sobbing, but was sucking it up like a big girl. So her voice wavered as she said at last, "Fang, I don't know how to make this work."

I walked over to her and stopped to wipe a tear from her eye. "Then we'll work together," I whispered.

* * *

**"If you're ever so mad you could just cry, do it. It scares people." -Tina Fey**

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**~ Birdwatched**

(Sole de Gloria)


	9. Chapter 9

**You've all waited long enough and I'm such a terrible person for making you all wait for such an ungodly amount of time. I'm not even going to try and explain myself, and I kind of lost interest in writing this one, if you couldn't already tell, and so without further adieu, here is the final and concluding chapter of Beautiful Boy :)**

* * *

I lay in bed that evening, awake and unable to keep my mind from wandering. The fight with Fang was still fresh in my mind, and I was completely torn about the idea of leaving everyone again. Part of me wanted to, because the life I had with Silence back at home was the most normal I'd ever experienced. Then again, the best times I'd ever had were back with the flock – back with Fang. I still loved him, but I didn't even know what to think about him anymore. I understood that it would be completely cruel to try and go back to the way it had been for the last five years, because now Fang knew about our son and wanted everything to do with him now. Be a father or whatever the hell dads do these days. How would he even know what to do? He never had a dad. None of us had. Granted, he and I were like the parents of the flock back in the day, but this one was our own flesh and blood.

I was a good mom by myself. I could take care of us. I could pay the bills, slake the hunger of this growing, mutant freak son of mine, kiss the boo boos, do the laundry…and I did a damn good job of it. I could even cook! I'm supergirl. Indestructible, raising my son to be just like the rest of us had been so long ago. I no longer felt like I needed Fang beside me for support.

Yet, here there he was. Literally, like, in the doorway making me blink in surprise. He knocked twice on the door, knowing I'd wake up in an instant. It was kind of a knee-jerk reaction for all of us, and not even that had changed.

"Max," he whispered, oh-so quietly.

My stomach did a flip in a way that I was very uncomfortable with. I wasn't good with emotions, and certainly not ones like love and stuff. The sight of his strong, broad shoulders was familiar, and the way his pajama pants kind of hung loose on his hips made me swallow. I don't believe I've mentioned that he was much more attractive now than he was when we were fourteen. I wanted to run my hands through is tousled hair, but knew that I absolutely could not if Silence and I were leaving tomorrow. I couldn't rekindle the feelings I'd had for him, mostly because I'd been doing such a good job of hiding them under my skin for the last few days. I was amazing, wasn't I? Yep, I was.

"Yeah?" I tried to sound much sleepier than I actually was, maybe so he'd go away and leave me with my thoughts.

He knew me better than that, of course. "You couldn't sleep," he observed, sitting down at the edge of my bed and putting his face in his hands. When I didn't answer, he sort of chuckled once and said, "Neither could I."

I rolled my eyes, trying again to dissuade him from staying and just going to bed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that cup of coffee I had this afternoon before dinner wasn't decaf."

"You're not affected by caffeine," he said without missing a beat, catching my fib before I had a chance to elaborate at all.

We sat in silence for another minute. I was still lying down and bundled in my sheets, my hair all around me and probably tangled beyond reasonable belief. I sighed deeply, knowing something was eating at him. "So, what's up?" I asked softly.

He turned his body so that he could look down on me as I was sprawled out beside him, and traced his hand up my outstretched arm. My neck prickled and my stomach clenched while I tried to control my thoughts, and actions.

"Nothing," he said nonchalantly, a smile lighting his obsidian eyes in the darkness, "there's, um, there's just this really attractive girl sleeping in the room next to mine."

I blushed, and looked at the other side of the room, pressing my lips together. Fang took my hand in his and wordlessly traced my palm with his thumb. "We had a kid together, you know, Max," his is eyes watched my face like he was trying to not have me lash out at him or something, also choosing his words really carefully. He was trying to get me to stay again – an idea, again, I was not willing to take under any circumstances.

"I was aware of that," I said after a few seconds, acting.

"He's beautiful," he continued.

I smiled a little, then thinking of how much our son resembled him, so much more than me. Our wonderful, son. _My_ wonderful son. "Yeah, he is."

Fang reached out and touched my face so tenderly that I didn't have time nor the nerve to shy away. There was something in his eyes, an emotion I'd never seen before written all over his face. He pushed a little of my hair behind my ear and caressed my cheek gently with his calloused thumb. "Max…"

I was going to say something, maybe to protest, I don't know, but he leaned over and silenced me by placing his lips firmly on mine. My initial response was to try and pull away, to run away, but he held me in place with his hands and deepened the kiss so passionately that I almost lost all ability to think. Without breaking contact, he moved himself onto the bed over me, holding himself up with one of his strong arms. I lay there for a while, trying to decide through my foggy mind what exactly was happening, but in a foggy instant, that thought was gone. My hands brought themselves up to hold his clean-shaven face, and his arms wrapped themselves around my waist. His kisses soon became less aggressive, and his hold on me more gentle, reminding me of that time we made out in the desert one summer evening so long ago. He pressed his lips to me again once, twice, and then a third time before pulling away and laying next to me on the bed. He was on his side so he could see my face, and his left hand reached out again to trace my features with a bitterly sad look on his face. I didn't know what to think or how to respond to him, and I imagine the look on my face mirrored the feelings which were churning inside of me.

His dark eyes studied me for a full two minutes. The whole time, I was also trying to figure out what to say, but my eyes stayed locked with his. "I love you, Max," he said quietly, holding my hand in his and tracing my fingers with his. I didn't reply, so he continued. "Do you know how long we searched for you?" he asked.

I shook my head, just feeling like crying. I was so terrible. I had no idea what to think anymore or what to feel. It was like this was all supposed to feel so wrong, and yet it was turning into something almost…good, almost something I liked.

"Three years," he whispered slowly. "We thought the school had finally gotten you."

"Come one, they wouldn't have –"

"_Listen to me_," he ordered, leaning in so close that I thought he was about to kiss me again. "We thought you were dead, Max. Maybe tortured, shot through the head, torn apart by those _monsters_."

The corners of my mouth turned down sharply. This had affected him in a way that I never thought that it would. He me so close to him, and I wanted just to embrace him. "Fang, I'm so sorry –"

"Max, I love you," Fang said, interrupting me, looking deep into my eyes, and there was something different in his tone that told me it meant so much more than I could imagine. "I never stopped loving you. I never stopped _searching_. I wanted to find you, I wanted you to come back, Max."

My face was held gently in both of his hands, and he gave the most curious look. "And now you're right here, between my two hands, I finally found you, and you're telling me you want to leave me?"

"Fang, don't do this –"

"_No_, you don't _get it_," he let out a terrible sob which I know he didn't mean to let slip. "You _can't_ leave. I don't want to let you out of my sight. I don't want you out of my life."

He placed his lips on mine again, strong and firm, a kiss filled with unexplainable emotion. I tasted his tears, his sorrow, and then he pulled back, holding me by the shoulders.

"Max," he said, "If you can't stay here, I'm coming with you. If you think you don't need me, I need you…I'm just…I'm…I'm lost without you."

There was a silence while I struggled with words. Something had changed just then. He'd admitted something to me that I never thought would ever come out of his mouth. He was always the strong silent one, not needing anybody. But, even he, even _Fang_, needed something outside of himself.

Fang needed _me_.

I made a decision then. It was probably the most important one I've ever made in my life, and then I asked him slowly, "Is there a kindergarten nearby?"

Recognition flickered in his eyes, and the tears began to fall again. He wrapped his strong arms around me and kissed me with all the passion he had within him, and I kissed him back. I was finally home. I was finally with my family, where I belonged.

And it felt right.

* * *

The next morning, I awoke in the arms of the man who I knew at that moment I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. He was mine, and I was his. Fortunately, nothing else had happened after that final kiss last night, because right as soon as Fang too had woken and hugged me tight, our son came bursting through the door and landed right in our bed.

"Mooorning Mommy!" he sing-songed. He noticed Fang and bashfully added, "Oh, and Daddy."

His straight black hair was tousled all over his head and he was dressed in my favorite train pajamas of his, the ones with the feet. His dark eyebrows drew together and he climbed into bed to sit between Fang and I, laying between us. I put an arm around Silence and kissed his forehead.

Fang took this opportunity to start tickling him. In the recent days together, Fang had discovered his son's unique vulnerability to the tickle gene. Silence giggled uncontrollably and writhed, kicking both of us until I ordered Fang to cut it out. "Stop! You're going to make him pee on the bed!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Fang let his kid be and settled back into bed. "C'mere, you," he grabbed him about the waist and pulled him down between us again, kissing him on the cheek and rubbing his chest.

Silence was giggling and smiling ear to ear, in a different way than I'd ever seen him grin before. After a bit, he told us seriously, "I want it to stay this way."

I had been stroking his hair, but he took my hand away from him to get me to quit.

"Hm?" Fang asked him, smiling subconsciously as he gazed at his boy. "What way, Silence?"

Silence looked at each of us and put a hand on each of our cheeks, patting us gently in a very childish way. "I want us together," he said. "Like this."

Fang snuck a glance at me, his dark eyes twinkling like he had something up his sleeve. "You want Mommy and Daddy together with you?"

"Yeah."

"You want us to be a family?"

"Yes!"

Fang looked at me right in the eye and reached across the bed to take my hand. He hesitated for a second, and then looked at our beautiful boy, who seemed to encourage him in what he was then about to do.

"Max?" he asked me very seriously.

I gave him a weak smile. "Yes, Fang?"

"Maximum Ride, will you marry me?"

Silence covered his mouth with his sleeves and looked at me me expectantly with those wonderful brown eyes which I had fallen in love with for the first time as a small child. I looked back at Fang, who was now watching me with that silly grin that I've told him so many times in the past to wipe of his face. The face which I'd been in love with all along, and the boy who'd now grown into a more brilliant man than I ever would have dreamed of. This man I loved and the child we'd brought into this world being the only two people I ever wanted to spend my life with, I made the most important decision in my life in an instant.

I smiled, placing a hand on Fang's cheek. "Yes," I answered, "Yes, Fang, I will, a thousand times, I will."

He practically dived forward and kissed me hard on the mouth, right in front of Silence, who said the only thing a four year old would know to say at such a time as this.

"Ewww! Mom!"

* * *

**The end :)**

**There's a possibility of a couple epilogue chapters, but I haven't decided yet. I just felt like this story had gone without update for so long and I didn't want to continue all the angst which was going on with my readers, so I thought I'd just put a sweet end to this. I am working on another fanfic story, and I'm writing a lot in advance so I can keep the updates coming at a more acceptable rate. This next one will be about a million times better than anything I've written thus far, so keep watch! I've got about three chapters of it in the writing bin and it should be coming within the next month or so.**

**I'm trying to get back into the writing groove and trying to motivate myself to write more when I have time on my hands. I'm really slow, but I thorough, and I want to make sure that my final product is at its best before I send it out. **

**Anyway, thanks for reading this story for this past year! Again, I'm sorry that I've been updating so infrequently, but I'm looking to change that with this next story. Keep watch, and make sure to review! **

**Over and out, **

**~Steph**


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